….. But I Don’t Have Any Time For:
- I’m not a big rumor fan, but I can’t let three of them go without comment. First, there’s the one about Mitt Romney as Obama’s health care czar. Well at least we wouldn’t have to put up with his seemingly daily appearances on Hannity’s radio and TV programs. You would also hope that it would put an end to the idea that the person whose handiwork is ruining health care in Massachusetts could run for president in 2012 — at least as a Republican.
- The second rumor is that Ted Strickland will be nominated as Obama’s Health and Human Services secretary now that Tom Daschle has withdrawn. The bright side: Strickland’s Turnaround Ohio school reforms promised during the 2006 campaign didn’t show up until 2009, and he was very outspoken about how unreasonable it was that we should have expected something sooner. If that form holds, Ted will wait over two years before proposing a national health care plan. The longer the better, Ted.
- The third primarily affects Greater Cincinnati — University of Cincinnati President Nancy Zimpher is apparently on her way to becoming the chancellor of the SUNY (State University of New York) system. The New York Times says it’s more than rumor and that “an announcement could come within days.” What’s most snortworthy is the way the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Cliff “Pitiful Puff Piece” Peale is covering for her to the apparent end — once again without disclosing that Enquirer publisher Margaret Buchanan is a member of UC’s Board of Trustees. He writes that “Her departure would leave UC without its most visible advocate in the face of several ambitious programs. The university still is struggling to repay hundreds of millions of dollars of unpaid debts by departments from athletics to campus services, debts that were built up before Zimpher arrived.” (Sigh) Cliff, Nancy didn’t do anything about them during her first THREE YEARS.
- Thank you, Tom Coburn (HT Michelle Malkin) — “The other 90% of the (stimulus) bill represents one of the most egregious acts of generational theft in our nation’s history.”
- Famous last words — We now know that Hugh Hewitt’s upper limit on tolerable presidential nominee tax evasion is north of Tom Daschle’s $128,000 (ignoring interest and inexplicably unassessed penalties). On Monday, apparently minutes before Daschle threw in the towel (10:17 a.m. PT, 1:17 p.m. ET), Hewitt wrote, “Errors on tax returns related to unusual circumstances and nanny issues are simply not the sort of character issues for which confirmation should be denied. Fixing the ‘confirmation mess’ requires some restraint when presented with targets. The GOP should stay fixed on the stimulus bill, and not go chasing Daschle.” The jaw drops.
